C by Discovery, difference between newer and older edition?

Hi, I'm thinking about taking a C class at my local community college. Due to financial restraints I am not really able to get the 4'th edition to C by Discovery by W. D. Foster (Author) and L. S. Foster (Author) that my class requires. I'm wondering if anyone has used this book before and if the third edition differs from the fourth? Thanks.

Also, should I just learn C on my own and then take the class at college? Is that better? Thanks.

I'm not familiar with the book, but perhaps researching both editions at amazon.com would help you. Besides possibly being able to compare their tables of content, you could also read the readers' reviews.

Obviously, if you already know something about the subject when going into a class, you will get more out of the class. My father's strategy in high school was to read ahead in the textbooks so that when the class finally to that point in the book the class was a review for him. And of course trying to learn C on your own is more difficult, especially if you have no background in programming. Your call.